New Season, New Website

6 September 2011

As you will have seen by now, the new season has brought with it a new website for Bath Rugby.

www.bathrugby.com has a new and improved design, which has been specifically designed to meet supporters requirements, following some in-depth research with supporters, conducted with our digital partner, Positive.

The website is simpler, more efficient and easier to use – allowing you to get to what you want without spending time searching through various sections to find it. Everything you want or expect from the Club's website should be there, but in a simpler, easier to find format.

The re-design has also seen an overhaul of the Bath Rugby online shop, making it easier for you to view products and shop online. We have also introduced a Bath Rugby mobile site, so you can catch up with all the latest news from Bath Rugby wherever you are, as it works much better on your mobile.

One thing not featured on the new website is a fan's forum, and we would like to apologise to those users who did use it for the lack of notice that this would not be continuing. This decision was made after a lot of thought and discussion, and for a few reasons.

The new site has been developed and provided by a completely new company, meaning that all previous usernames and passwords would have been lost, and all members would have been required to sign up again. User research indicated that this area was one that whilst in the past has been popular, was now a very underused facility on the site (well below 100 people actively used it).

We also felt that in order to stay impartial, we would act as a conduit for other fans sites and forums, which we will help promote and direct traffic towards.

We hope that once you have had a good look around the new site, you agree with us that it is a big step forward in terms of both design and functionality, and we will monitor feedback with reference to the forum.

We are also pleased to announce that the new iPhone app is currently being approved by Apple, and will hopefully be ready in time for the first home game this Saturday. Unlike last season, where there was a pay option per game, there is a one off £1.99 payment for the whole season, which offers much better value for the content we will be providing.

On the field, it was great to get off with a winning start to the season, and we look forward to seeing you at the Rec on Saturday for our game against Saracens.